Sports news

Husson University Sports Hall of Fame

BANGOR – Husson University will honor its Sports Hall of Fame inductees at Homecoming during a ceremony and dinner at 6:45 p.m. Friday, Oct. 10, in Peabody Hall.

. Jay J. Durfee, golf, earned a degree in business in 1996 and a second degree in teacher education in 1998. His induction is in recognition of his distinguished career in professional golf and ice hockey. Durfee entered the PGA in 1998 and has spent the past decade in a variety of capacities from first assistant pro at the Waterville Country Club for seven years to founder of the Northeast College Golf Combine that will open in 2009. He he has taught golf management at Thomas College, was first assistant pro at Cohasset Country Club in Massachusetts and Cape Neddick Country Club in Maine, and directed Harmon Golf Club Junior Golf and development programs in Massachusetts.

Durfee also refereed for USA Ice Hockey at state, regional and national championships for six years in a row. In 2007 he was selected to referee for the Division I NCAA Men’s Nationals Ice Hockey Championship. Recently married, Jay and his wife, Alicia Arnold, live in Weymouth, Mass.

. Brian E. Jefferson, basketball. Since his graduation from Husson with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and sports management in 1996, Jefferson has worked his way up the corporate ladder in the Washington, area from positions with Freddie Mac, the U.S. Department of Education and Enterprise Rent-A-Car to his current job as a marketing consultant at AARP. He plays an integral role in developing sponsorships for the annual Life@50+ National Convention. In 2003 he started his own business, Clean Sweep Cleaning Services LLC. He has maintained his connections with sports, including his tenure as the Teen Program director for the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission. In 2004 he teamed up with Husson backcourt mate and alumni Xavier Joyer as assistant basketball coach at Montgomery College in Germantown, Md. He is now pursuing an opportunity to begin an afterschool basketball academy in the District of Columbia public school system.

. Amy Dyer Kelley, basketball, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and sports management in 1995 and is the varsity girls basketball coach at Searsport District High School. She coached at Troy Howard Middle School in Belfast, 2004-2006, when the team of eighth-grade girls won the sportsmanship award and the Busline League championship. Her awards include most improved player for Husson basketball in 1994, captain of Husson varsity basketball in 1995 and captain of the varsity softball team in 1995. At Husson, she is ninth in total career games and fifth in career field goal percentage for basketball. “There were many nights when Amy would go to school, practice and then drive home to Belfast to work an all-night [job] just to get up and do it all over again,” Husson coach Kissy Walker commented. “In my opinion, Amy has all the qualities of a Hall of Fame member.”

. Alexander “Sandy” McCuaig, baseball. After graduating from Husson in 1998 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and sports management, McCuaig worked for the management trainee program at Olympia Sports in Nashua, N.H. In 2001 he began work at Fidelity Investments in Merrimack, N.H. Today, he is a unit manager in trade operations, responsible for a team that performs trade settlements, trade revisions, allocations and collateral management in support of the Fixed Income Trading desk. McCuaig’s baseball career spanned winning the Maine Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year award in 1994 to New England Player of the Year in 1997 and member of the Husson coaching staff in 1998. His jersey number was retired in 2000.

. James E. Murphy, coaching, has been involved in coaching and the business side of athletics all his life. He has taught business education at George Stevens Academy since his graduation from Husson with a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1974. Murphy became GSA’s athletic administrator in 1984 and established new programs in sailing, track, wrestling, tennis, golf and swimming, while adding sub-varsity teams in softball, soccer, basketball, tennis and golf. As co-founder and director of the Blue Hill Activities Group he has become very much a part that community. In his own words, “My plate is always full, as is most of my peers’. Teaching class each day certainly guarantees that, but I am very proud of what we have been able to accomplish at George Stevens Academy. I really don’t consider any of my personal accomplishments as outstanding, but, rather, as opportunities and challenges that I have been given to help make our community a better place to live, our school a better place to learn and our conference a better league to compete.”

Red Sox tickets won by blood donor

Cindy Kimpel of Gray recently received an unexpected reward for taking the time to share her good health with seriously ill patients. An employee of L.L. Bean, Kimpel participated in her company’s Red Cross blood drive last month and won coveted tickets for a Boston Red Sox home game during the playoffs.

Blood donors at Red Cross blood drives are invited to enter to win this chance of a lifetime while the Red Sox remain contenders for the playoff championship. A winner will be selected for each playoff game at Fenway Park during the postseason series.

In addition to game tickets, Kimpel received complimentary hotel accommodations and a $50 gas card.

All who donate blood at a Red Cross blood drive or donor center in Northern New England may enter. Tickets are nontransferable and one ticket must be used by the winner.

Donors may call 800-GIVE-LIFE or visit newenglandblood.org to find a convenient Red Cross blood drive. To give blood, donors must be at least 17 years of age – or 16 in Maine with parental consent, weigh 110 pounds or more and be in good health. Blood may be donated every eight weeks through the Red Cross.

UM Naval ROTC

ORONO – Student volunteers from the University of Maine Naval ROTC program put in place on Oct. 4 the essential rockwork to anchor Bangor Land Trust’s new bridge across the Penjajawoc Stream on the Northeast Penjajawoc Preserve.

The bridge is part of a trail for nonmotorized use going from Kittredge Road to the old Veazie railroad bed. When completed, it will make it possible for walkers, bikers and cross-country skiers to cross the Penjajawoc Stream safely and without disturbing the stream bed.

The bridge mainly was constructed by volunteers, and utilizes two large laminated beams donated by the Advanced Engineered Wood Composite Center at the University of Maine.

The University of Maine Naval ROTC students volunteered to help Bangor Land Trust complete the installation of the bridge as part of its community service program. The stewardship activity provided them the opportunity to put into action some of the values that form a part of their training, including honor, courage, commitment, dependability and integrity.

The task they chose is no small challenge – filling the bridge’s cribwork with boulders and placing protective rock rip-rap along the bridge’s upstream bank to keep the bridge from being washed downstream in high water.

Because the land trust opted to use low-impact construction methods, NROTC students will move rocks from the adjoining woodland, leaving the stream bed undisturbed and preserving the stream’s water quality.

Bangor Land Trust president Lucy Quimby said, “We are extremely lucky to have the assistance of such a responsible, generous and committed group of young people. This is community service at its best.”